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Letter of Experience

Have You Got Yours?

Published on Thursday, 25 April 2013
by Les Brannick

At Chill Insurance we realise you don't want to spend all day going over forms or even worse, resubmitting them! So over the coming months I'm going to look at particular areas which the Customer Service team receive lots of calls about and see if we can shed a bit more light on them for you.

To kick things off this week I'm going to focus on letters of experience. If you're searching for car insurance I'd recommend you take a look at the questions below:

What is a letter of experience?

When insurers calculate your premium one of the factors they consider is your insurance history. A letter of experience lets them see any previous claims you've made, accidents, cancellations and the length of time you've been insured. Your driving experience must be up to date and generally no more than 14 days old.

How do I get a letter of experience?

All of your previous insurers will be able to provide a letter of experience. They should be able to do this fairly quickly, but remember you'll need to produce a letter of experience from each insurer you've been with for the duration of your driving history. For instance, if you've been insured for three years with different three insurers you'll need three letters of experience.

Why do I need one?

A letter of experience is a requirement of many insurers as it helps them work out your risk and confirms the information you've submitted is correct. It's worth pointing out that a letter of experience is different to a certificate of insurance as it clearly shows insurers what claims have happened, whereas a certificate of insurance shows who the named driver is.

What else do I need to know?

There's a few things to bear in mind. The letter of experience you send in must be concurrent with no gaps in your driving history. If there are gaps in your experience this will increase the time it takes for you to get insured. It's also worth remembering that you can't protect your driving experience like you can a no claims bonus. If you have a claim your driving experience goes back to zero.

If you have any questions about letters of experience, just leave a comment below and one of the team will get right back to you.